


The Pleasantries and Difficulties of Parenthood

by FruityMelon



Series: A World With the Capitols [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: America is Demisexual, But also straight, Demisexuality, F/F, F/M, Gay, Gen, Happy Ending, London, Lots of other capitols that I don't want to name, M/M, Paris - Freeform, Washington D.C., america needs a hug, good balance of sexuality, the countries are parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:07:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 4,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28765281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FruityMelon/pseuds/FruityMelon
Summary: Years ago, the first personified capitols started appearing in the world. To the nations delight they came as small children to the nations who had fallen in love. It was the universes' way of letting the nations start real families. After this discovery, many nations decided to take a risk and fall in love. Which resulted in marriage and capitol babies.All America wants is a child. Someone he can care for and love. He wants to be a parent more the anything in the world. Too bad the algorithm won't allow that.
Relationships: Canada/Ukraine (Hetalia), Denmark/Norway (Hetalia), England/France (Hetalia), Finland/Sweden (Hetalia), Germany/North Italy (Hetalia), Hungary/Prussia (Hetalia), South Italy/Spain (Hetalia)
Series: A World With the Capitols [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2108886
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	1. In which Alfred wants a baby

America had a big family. Now, this may not seem very unusual, as many people have large families. But, it has become something very strange in his case.

First of all, you need to understand that America is not married, unlike many of the other countries. He has no children and lives with no one other than his cat (Hero) and his dog (Sammy). He spends most of his time working on paperwork for his government and dealing with international relations. That being said, Al’s house is the noisiest one on the street.

You see, almost every day, America has parts of his family visit him. Some days it’s Matt (Canada) and Kat (Ukraine) and their little baby girl, others it’s Arthur and Franny and their rambunctious batch. Today it was the Nordic family.

The Nordic family was an odd bunch composed of the members of the Nordic nations. The only exception was a English boy named Peter, or Sealand as many know him. Not only were they a diverse bunch, but they were a loud bunch. Mattias(Denmark) and Lukas(Norway) were the quieter ones with them having one excitable little five year old, Kara (Copenhagen). But Tino(Finland) and Berwald(Sweden)… Yeah, they're a little louder. They have four children. The oldest are Peter and Erland(Ladonia), who are the same age. Kristopher(Stockholm) is 6. They have one daughter, Aino(Helsinki), who is only one year old. Emil(Iceland) came along as well, begrudgingly of course.

That is how America ended up at the park down the street from his house, baby on his hip, diaper bag slung across his shoulder, Kara holding his free hand. He could imagine how stressful having kids is, so he always tries to take care of the kids when the other nations visit him.

He enjoys it though. Truthfully, America loves kids and was quite jealous of his fellow nations who had received the gift of these children. Years ago, the capitals started showing up after the first time two nations had gotten married. Little Rome had appeared on Felicano’s(Italy) and Ludwig’s(Germany) doorstep and a few weeks after their wedding. Berlin appeared a few years later. The nations had soon discovered that when two nations fell in love and got married, they would soon receive a baby that personified their capital or capitals. 

After that, there were so many nations that confessed that they had feelings for each other. One year, America attended six nation weddings! In correlation, new child capitols rapidly started appearing. Madrid, Ottawa, Copenhagen, Paris, London, Tokyo, Athens and many, many more. The older micronations even started running a daycare during the World Meetings. America couldn’t help but notice that everyone, including himself, was a little bit happier with the capitols running around causing chaos. 

Aino giggled and started grabbing at the glasses perched on America’s nose. He slipped them off his face and let her play with them. Peter and Erland walked ahead of him, softly bickering to each other. Kristopher walked trailed behind his older brothers, his little legs trying to keep up with the older boys. Kristopher was completely drowned out by the bickering brothers, and after several attempts at making conversation he simply stopped talking and wore a sad expression. America started to say something to comfort the boy when Kara suddenly let go of his hand and walked up to Kristopher. She started saying something to him excitedly, and he immediately brightened up. America smiled to himself, those two were going to cause all kinds of trouble when they got older.

Their trip to the park proved to be a fruitful adventure. Everyone had fun running around and playing. Aino, too small to play with the others, built sandcastles in the sandbox with America. By the time they were ready to go home, everyone was Exhausted. “Success!” Thought Alfred. A tired child was a good child. 

The nordics greeted everyone at the door and within 20 minutes everyone was laid down for a nap (Even ladonia who resisted firmly!).  
The rest of the day went smoothly. America and the Nordics visited for a few hours. The kids woke up and they ordered pizza and had a board game marathon. The kids went to bed for the night. The Nordics found America’s alcohol stash and continued to devour it, a fact that Alfred was not happy about come morning. 

Before they knew it, it was time for the crew of Nordics (and Sealand) to make their way back home. America saw them off at the airport. They all waved goodbye, exchanged hugs, and then headed into the airport. Just before they headed in the doors, Aino (who was being held by Sweden) looked over her father’s shoulder and gave a wave with her tiny hand. Alfred felt his heart swell at the gesture and gave a small wave back. His face wore what could only be the dorkiest smile on the planet.

Alfred looked in the rear-view mirror of his car and saw the baby seat Aino had been sitting in on their way to the airport. He felt a certain sorrow well in his chest. As soon as he got home, he knew he would be taking that little seat and putting it in storage for the next time it was needed. If only it was in constant use, if only he had a little one to use the seat. America sighed and looked back towards the rode. He hit the Bluetooth button on his dashboard and let it play whatever song he had last been listening to on it. The song “More” started playing. In the last couple of weeks he had played it so many times. He couldn’t help that Halsey captured his feelings so perfectly in that song. He let his mind drift, the drive becoming a blur as his mind dreamed of something he knew he could never have.


	2. In which Alfred has a party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's the 4th and Alfred has a party

It was his birthday, and everyone was there. All of his family and friends and even some friends-who-were-more-like-enemies. They had all come, and it made him so happy.

It had been a rough couple of months for Alfred, he found himself sad and lonely for absolutely no reason. Even stranger, he had never felt like this before. Even during the isolationist phase he went through in the 1920s, he never felt as lonely as he did now. Having so many people here for his birthday really helped.

He spent his time talking to Matthew (Canada), Arthur (England), Francis (France) and all his other friends. Laughter filled the room as the night continued on, everyone enjoying the company of their friends and alcohol circulating around the room. America jumped from group to group checking on everyone and making conversation, but he could never find himself able to stay for very long. 

He would come up to a group and join the conversation. They would talk for a few minutes before someone decided to start talking about their capitol and the difficulties and pleasantries of parenthood. It was then that Alfred would feel a huge hole open up in his heart and the loneliness and sadness would rush back in. Unable to stay any longer in fear of bursting into tears, he would quickly flit to the next group repeating the cycle. 

By the end of the night not only was Alfred out of Alcohol once again, but he felt even lonelier than ever before.


	3. In which Alfred gets a invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's going to be a wedding!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alfred is Demisexual
> 
> Demisexuality is when you only feel sexual attraction once you have a deep emotional connection with someone. In other words, it means that you're Asexual until you're studently not. Kind of like when you think someone's personality is so beautiful, that they are beautiful too!

America stared at the wedding invitation in his hands…

The wedding of

Gilbert  
&  
Elizabeta

We invite with joyful hearts to the celebration  
of our wedding

Date: xx/xx/xx  
Venue: xxxxxxxxxxxxx

He was happy for them, he really was. They were going to get married, start a family and be as happy as all the rest of the nations. They deserve it after all they’ve been through.  
Alfred kept thinking as he flipped through his wardrobe in order to find a nice suit. Why couldn’t he have what the rest of them have? Why can’t he be happy too? Who is he kidding, he knows the answer to that.  
There are rules, an algorithm, certain things that need to happen for a capitol to appear.

1: You have to fall in love with another nation.  
2: You have to have a stable relationship with them.  
3: You have to be married.

Alfred doesn’t know who or what made these rules, but these have been the requirement for years. And as far as he is concerned, Alfred will never make these requirements. 

Now, one thing that you have to understand is that Alfred does love! He loves people very much. He loves his family and friends from the bottom of his heart. He has even fallen in love with a human before. But, for some reason he cannot find a nation that he loves romantically. His personality clashes with theirs’s and it never ends well. Trust me, he has tried. Maybe it’s the fact that a lot of the nations want to have sex by the fourth date, and Alfred’s just not into that. He has to be with someone for a very long time and have a connection with them before he will even think about sex, or that someone is even attractive for that manner. Most of the nation’s aren’t patient enough.

He accepted it by now, the fact that he will never have that little family he dreams about. That doesn’t change the fact that his heart is shattered into pieces.


	4. In which there is a dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dream. A boy. Paw Patrol

He’s dreaming, he knows he’s dreaming. This can’t be real. It can’t be real because his home is so light and happy and brilliant. There is the smell of bacon in the air, apple juice stains on the couch and Paw Patrol playing on the TV.

Alfred is standing in the kitchen, stirring a bowl of what looks like pancake mix. There’s a woman setting the table, her black curls pulled into a messy bun. She smiles at Alfred and he can sense the love radiating off her.

A little boy comes running around the corner, toy airplane held above his head. “Fwwwooooom, Fwwwooooom.” The boy says as he flies his plane around the room.  
Alfred feels himself smile at the boy. “Hey, bud! Whatcha playin?” Alfred asks good-naturedly. He smiles and replied “Pwanes!!!” Then he runs over and crashes the plane into Alfred’s leg. “Bwwwwoooom!” He looks up and smiles at Alfred. Al can’t help but play along. “Oh no! Mayday, Mayday! Planes’ going down! Superboy has to save them!” Alfred swoops up the boy and starts to fly him around the room like superman. The little boy laughs joyfully and he is swung around the room. Alfred places the boy on the ground. He hugs Alfred’s legs. 

“I love you dad!”

Alfred wakes up with a start and throws off the covers. He runs around his house, searching for the woman and the boy, hoping that perhaps they were real. His home was as dark and empty as he left it.   
He walked into his bathroom, white light stinging his eyes. The blond hair on his head was frazzled and his glasses had slid down on his nose. He looked at his reflection and started giggling. It escalated into manic laughter which shifted into tears.

Why. Why must even his mind torture him.


	5. In which a prayer is sent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred prays

Alfred hadn’t prayed in years, but on this October night he found himself sitting on his bed with his head bowed. 

It wasn’t unusual to pray for something like this, was it? He supposed that he could pray for anything he wanted. He could even talk just for the sake of talking to god, just to have a conversation.

“Hey God. It’s been a while, hasn’t it. How have you been? Is the weather in heaven nice? Well, it’s heaven, of course the weather is nice.”  
He paused for a minute.

“I know the algorithm. I know I can never have my own child the way I am. But, maybe you can make an exception. Please, I will provide them with everything they need. They’ll have a safe hom, with plenty of food and games and sports and books. They’ll have the best education possible. But most importantly, I will love them with enough love to fill Lake Erie. Please, God. All I ask for is a soul, a child. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

Alfred drifted to sleep easily for the first time in years.


	6. In which Alfred finds happiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A forest, ladybugs, a baby.

It was a cheerful morning, and Alfred found it odd. Even when the sun was shining brightly through the gray curtains in the living room. Alfred never considered a morning cheerful. He was never a morning person, even when he was a small child living under Arthur’s care he would delay getting out of bed for as long as possible. Imagine his surprise when he found himself out of bed at 6 in the morning on a Saturday.

He was slumped over the island in his kitchen sipping idly on a cup of coffee. Alfred found himself wondering what possessed him to stagger out of the bed this morning at such an ungodly hour. He shrugged, maybe his body finally decided it was time to be on time to his meetings.

He moved to place his mug in the sink when he felt a sensation slip over him. It made his stop in his tracks and the world seemed to still to a stop. A foreign force felt as if it was pulling him to somewhere, to something. The mug slipped from his hand and shattered, but he didn’t notice. Before Alfred could even contemplate what he was doing, he was stumbling out the back door barefoot. The cold November air whipped across his uncovered arms and chilled his chest through his T-shirt, but he just continued to wander into the wilderness behind his home. He wandered onto a forest trail that had been created by deer, soft moss and grass tickling his feet.

Alfred must have been half a mile back into wood before he felt a pull into a seemingly untouched part of the forest. He trudged through tall grasses that came to his waist and ladybugs landed on his shoulders. The ladybugs flitted from tree to tree, leading him into a small forest clearing. He wondered what ladybugs were doing here in November, it seemed too cold for them. Cardinals were perched in the branches of the trees at the edge of the clearing. Alfred took in the clearing, calm, comforting, warm, almost having a magical sense about it. In his quick scan of the clearing he noticed the large basket in the center, but paid it no mind until it started wailing. He was frightened at first, who wouldn’t when a mysterious basket starts crying, until he quickly realized that that was the wailing of an uncomfortable child. He rushed forward and swooped up the little baby that was nestled in the basket.

It wasn’t the little boy in his dreams, it was a tiny baby girl. She had dark brown hair and large blue green eyes. Her wailing sounded through the forest, loud and brash. Alfred noticed the little baby had no clothes, only a blanket to keep her warm. Her wrapped the blanket around her and snuggled her into his chest, trying to keep her as warm as possible.

  
As Alfred stood there, holding this strange baby to his chest, he couldn’t help but feel a connection to her. It wasn’t like with all of the other children he knew and cared for occasionally. He always knew that they weren’t his, that they weren’t his little kids. But her...she seemed like his child, his baby. It was at that moment that he knew who she was. He knew that, for some insane reason, the algorithm had made an exception for him. He had a baby girl! A beautiful, adorable baby girl!

He smiled and pressed a kiss to the infant’s forehead. Walking back to his house, he was the happiest he had been in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now all the sappy, fluffy stuff can happen! Basically Alfred now has to figure own how the hell to be a dad.


	7. In Which Alfred Needs Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred now has baby with no clothing, food, and diapers for her.

Alfred is completely exhausted, completely and entirely exhausted. He finds himself laying in his bed and recounting the events of that day…

Alfred found the little girl deep in the woods. It was a cold day, and he knew she was cold. By the time he got back to the house, he had broken from his stupor and was think of all the things he needed to care for this little girl.  
First thing he did was find the softest, warmest blanket in his house and bundled her up in it. Then he searched his home for any baby clothes that had been left here by one of the other nations. The only thing he could find was one of Aino’s little sundresses. Not only was it several sizes too big for the newborn, but it wasn’t nearly warm enough.  
Alfred needs to go to the store. He needed clothes, a crib, baby formula, diapers, wipes, toys, and many other things. Not only that, but he needed to set up everything when he got home, while taking care of a baby. He sighed. He knew he needed help with this. So he called the closest person, his brother Matt. 

Brrrrrr...brrrrrr...brrrrrr

“Hey Al, what’s up?”

“Mattie. You won’t believe it, the most amazing thing happened to me.”

“Al, you say everything is amazing. Why are you whispering?”

“The baby’s asleep and I really don’t want to wake her.”

“Baby? The Nordics aren’t they, are they?”

“Nope.” Alfred says with a smile in his voice.

“Then who’s baby is it?”

“She’s mine obviously.”

“Haha, very funny. Come on Al, just tell me who’s visiting.” Matt answers sarcastically

“Mattie, I’m being dead serious. She’s my baby.”

Silence comes from the other end of the phone.

“The algorithm messed up bro. I found her about an hour ago. She’s my capital, Washington D.C.”

“Holy Shit…” Alfred giggles as he hears a Slovak accent shout “Language!” In the background of Matthew’s phone. 

“I know right!” Alfred whisper-shouted. “But, that’s not exactly why I called you.” Al sighed. “I have a completely unexpected newborn at my house. I have nothing for her except for a sundress that belongs to Aino and a fluffy blanket. I need supplies to take care of her and frankly, I’m a little overwhelmed right now. My pride is taking a huge blow right now, but…”

Matthew interrupted Alfred before he could even finish.  
“Say no more, Me and Kat are on our way.”

“Thanks bro, you’re the best.”

“It’s the least I can do. You annoy the shit out of me half the time, but you’re always there for me. You should know that I’ll be there for you when you need me. I love you Al.

“I love you too Mattie. See you soon.”

“See you soon.”

They ended the call.


	8. In Which We Meet Noel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt, Kat and Noel arrive!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ekaterina (Kat)- Ukraine  
> Noel- Ottawa

Matthew and Ekaterina made it to Alfred’s home in record time. Normally it takes 2 or more hours to get to his home from Matthew’s in Ottawa. Today, there was knocking on his door in an hour and fifteen minutes. Alfred just stood there gaping as Matt, Kat and little Noel stepped into his home, lugging a bag of what could only be food and baby basics behind them. 

“How-what-how the hell did you get here so fast!?” Alfred asked the trio. Kat smiled at Alfred, “Magicians don’t give away their secrets!” Matthew lowered Noel down to the floor, he immediately ran over to Alfred for a hug. “Uncle Alfie!” Alfred scooped up his nephew. “Hey you! How Ya been?” Alfred asked. “Great! Yesterday it snowed and me and Papa built a snow fort and it was super fun! But then we challenged mama to a snowball fight, and we lost! But then papa made us all hot chocolate and we watched The Little Fishmaid!” Noel started to ramble to Alfred. His uncle just nodded, and acted interested in everything Noel had to say. After a couple minutes of Noel’s non-stop talking Matthew stepped in, “Give you uncle a moment to breathe!” He said good naturedly. Alfred put Noel down, who then went to try to find the cookies Alfred had hidden in his kitchen. 

Alfred pulled his brother into a huge bro-hug, complete with a couple of hard slaps on the back. “Good to see you bro!” Al said, “Nice to see you too Al.” Matt replied softly. After releasing Matt, Al gave Kat a much softer hug.

“Okay, let’s get down to business.” Matt said. “Where’s the baby? This better not be some prank, because we just rushed south as fast as we could.” Alfred held his hands up in a surrender manner. “Trust me, it’s no prank. Follow me.” 

Al led them into his bedroom where he had made a make-shift crib for the little baby. On each side of her, he had two pillows to make a sort of barrier. The softest blanket Alfred owned was laid across the pillows and the deeper area in the middle. In the center of it all, an adorable newborn girl was curled up. 

“How beautiful is she!” Kat whisper-shouted. “Yeah, she’s pretty perfect, isn't she?” Alfred replied quietly. He slowly shut the door behind him. Matt crossed his arms, “How is this even possible? Did the Algorithm really screw up?” He asked. Al shrugged, “I guess so. Of course, I’m not complaining.” Matthew smiled, “Of course not. Holy crap, I’m an uncle!” Alfred and Matthew then started talking about all the playdates they were going to set up in the future, and how they think the other nations are going to react about this, and overall, just being total dorks about being dads.

Kat just watched, confused and mildly amused. With a chuckle she said, “I know you two like being dads, but we really need to make a trip to the store to get things for the little angel.” The two just stared at her for a moment. She sighed, “Just go, I’ll stay here with Noel and the baby.” Matthew smiled the dorkiest smile at her. “Merci, love.” The two of them shared a kiss. Alfred covered his eyes, “PDA! PDA!” After a slap on the back of the head Matt pulled his brother out of the door.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alfred and Matthew had gotten all the essentials, and now found themselves shopping for the cute little baby things. 

“Mattieeeeeee! Look at these! Wouldn’t they look adorable on her!?” Alfred was holding a little pair of baby booties. “Al, you already have 11 pairs of booties in the cart.” Al made a pouty face. “But these ones have hedgehogs on them.” Matt sighed, “Whatever, it’s your money you’re spending.” Al cheered and put the booties in the cart, along with a matching baby hat.

“Hey Al.” Matt said, stopping at one of the racks. “Yeah?” Al peeked around one of the near racks, holding 3 different onesies. “There’s coats over here. You definitely need one of those.” Al nodded his head in agreement. He looked at the Onesies as if trying to make a decision, he put a green one back and threw the other two in the cart before joining Matt at the coat rack. “I kind of like the yellow one.” Matt grabbed a soft-yellow coat off the rack and held it up towards Alfred. “Shouldn’t we get two? I mean, babies grow really fast, right? So we should get one that’s a size bigger than the other.” Matthew agreed and tossed the yellow coat, along with a blue one with stars into the cart. Al hummed to himself, “I think that’s all!” He exclaimed. 

As the two of them were walking out of the baby aisle Matthew reached over and grabbed a package of binkies. “You’re going to want these.”


	9. In which introductions are made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred chooses a name.  
> Noel meets his cousin.

On the way home, Matthew and Alfred chatted idly about the mundane things in life. Which led into the more exciting parts of their lives. Which led into talking about the Glitter incident last year. Which ultimately ended with the two laughing their asses off. It was good to have some time with just the two of them. 

Matt couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Alfred laugh this much. He wondered if it had something to do with the arrival of the little baby girl, or if Matthew had just stopped paying attention to Alfred. Now that he thinks about it, Al has been acting really strange over the past year. He hasn’t exactly been distant, just sad. Sort of like, he’s there physically, but not mentally. Right now, all of Alfred is here. Every happy, joyful, obnoxious, caring part of him; Matthew wondered how he never noticed it was gone.

The next few hours were quite chaotic. Alfred built the crib, with some help from Noel. Kat taught Al how to mix up baby formula and how to change diapers and do all the parent stuff. Matt followed everyone around with the camera, determined to get Alfred’s first attempt at being a parent on camera.

The little baby cried during her first bath. Alfred cried too. The new dad dressed his little girl in the new clothing he bought her and wrapped her up in the softest blanket. She was being stubborn, but they got her to drink the baby formula. The entire time, except for during bathtime, Alfred had the dorkiest smile on his face. He said “She’s perfect.” 14 times exactly, Matt counted. 

The five of them were sitting in the living room when Noel asked to hold his little cousin. Matthew taught his son how to correctly hold the baby. She squirmed in Noel’s arms and he chuckled. “Uncle Alfie?” Noel asked, “What’s her name?” Alfred smiled, “I was thinking about that. How about Caroline? I think it suits her.” Kat nodded, “Good choice, it’s a beautiful name.” Noel looked at his new cousin, “Nice to meet you Caroline, my name’s Noel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing a fic about the "Glitter Incident". Can't wait to post it!

**Author's Note:**

> This idea popped into my head randomly. Just thought it would make a good story. I'm open to critique if anyone had anything to say. Thankyou for reading!
> 
> Stay safe!  
> Love Ya'll


End file.
